"I love you, y/n."
y/n pov
An entire hour he's been gone.
An entire hour I've been sitting here wondering if the man I plan to marry someday is still allive.
I sat on what was left of the front steps of the school and looked out at the ruined courtyard.
A loud rumbling made everyone look towards the front gates of the school. I looked over the heaps of rocks to see the deatheaters returning.
"Ron! Hermione!" I called as I got up. "They're back!"
I tried to peer over the crowd forming on the front steps of Hogwarts. Never in my life have I seen so many people banding together. No matter what house, age, blood status, every student and professor at Hogwarts were crowding the courtyard, holding each others hands, hugging, crying, just being together.
I pushed to the front of the crowd, Ron running right behind me.
Voldemort led the deatheaters, a wicked smile on his face as he did. I know what that means, we all do. I'm just not ready yet to admit to myself that Harry Potter is dead.
I noticed Hagrid carrying someone in his arms, somewhat confirming my worst fears.
"Harry Potter.....is dead!" Voldemort announced.
And just from those four words, I felt my world coming to a halt.
All of my favorite memories of us flashed through my head.
When we first met.
My e/c eyes met with some of the most beautiful emerald ones. The owner quickly blushed when he realized I caught him staring at me.
"Sorry for staring, I accidentally do that sometimes" he said as he laughed lightly rubbing the back of his neck.
"It's ok." I assured with a smile to which he returned "I'm y/n".
"Harry, Harry Potter"
When I realized I liked him.
"What are you doing for Christmas this year?" he asked.
"I don't want to go home. My father has been ignoring my letters and when he does reply hes always vague and finds something to lecture me about." I looked down
"He's been this way ever since my mother died. I remember every Christmas we used to sit around the tree and sing muggle Christmas songs." I lightly smiled remebering the happy memories we used to share.
"Now I spend Christmas alone in my room." A tear slipped from my eye, I didn't even notice I had been crying.
Harry lifted my chin to face him and wiped my tear. "There's no reason to cry over him, you have Ron, Hermione, and I now. You can come with us to the Burrow."
"Do you really think Ron's parents would be ok with that?" I asked
"Are you kidding? Ms. Weasly owls me and asks all the time "hows y/n?" "are you and ron every gonna bring y/n to the Burrow?" "tell me hows y/n doing"
I laughed "She sounds lovely"
"Yeah shes like the mother I never had" He said as he turned back to the window. I then realized I had been complaing about my father, when Harry doesnt even have one.
"Oh Im sorry Harry, I shouldn't complain about my father to you"
"Why, because I don't have one?"
I slowly nodded.
We looked at each other and broke into laughter.
The first time I managed up the courage to flirt.
I woke up before everyone and climbed out of bed to go get dressed. I did my hair, put on some light mascara. I walked down the steps to the common room and Harry was there, still in his pajamas.
"Goodmorning."
He turned around in surpise. "Oh I didn't know anyone was up yet, hi." He said groggily. I laughed lightly. "You have a cute morning voice." I said as I walked out of the portrit hole.
I walked down the hall but stopped in my tracks when I realized what I just did. I openly flirted with the boy I've liked for a year. Not that I'm complaining.
Our first kiss.
"This. The whole ignoring thing, I know you think you're protecting us but you don't need to. We can handle ourselves. We really miss you. I miss you." He said as he slowly moved closer.
"I know. I miss you all too, but trust me you're better off."
"We aren't. y/n you don't understand. We don't care about the 'consequences'. Its a risk, thats all it is."
Though he was saying 'we' it felt as if it was more of an 'I'. I looked down and stayed silent, not knowing what to say.
He came up to me and grabbed my hands.
"Please y/n."
I looked up at him. Our faces were only inches apart, just as they were that night in the astronomy tower.
Our eyes found each others and I felt as if I couldn't look away.
I'm not going to be scared of my father anymore. I'm not going to wish for things when I could so easily make them happen. I'm not going to go to bed anymore wondering what could've been.
I closed the space between us. He quickly kissed back as his hands found my waist.
Sparks. It felt like we were the only two people in the world. I pulled away after a moment of pure bliss and looked up at a now smiling Harry.
"You're brilliant." He said with the biggest grin forming across his face.
Our first I love you.
We were full on yelling now. It was a good thing there was no one else in the corridor.
"I'm fine! It's none of your bloody buisness anyway!" I snapped at him.
"If you are willing to let her torture you, it is my business!"
"Why do you even care!?"
"Because I love you and I'm not going to sit here and let you do this to yourself!"
We both immediatley froze at his words.
"I-I-I just mean, uh, t-hat-" He rambled.
"Harry." I cut him off. I had the biggest smile forming on my face.
"Y-yeah?"
"I love you too."
His expression went from anger to happiness immediately. "Really?"
"Yes, really." I laughed.
Our first...you know.
We broke apart for air.
"Are you sure?" He asked. I knew what he was asking and I was more than happy to say yes.
"Of course. I love you."
He smiled at my words.
"I love you too."
And with that we reconnected our lips.
I was just with him an hour ago. How can be gone?
"No, no!" I cried out as I tried to run forward. Ron pulled me back and held me tightly in his arms. I tried to shake loose, to go see Harry one last time, but he wouldn't let go.
"Silence!" Voldemort yelled. "Stupid girl! We gave you a choice! We tried to show you what you could be and you chose to lower yourself to the level of a mudblood! Harry Potter is dead!"
Each of his words stung like a million bee stings. The tears flooded down my cheeks and I crumpled to the ground in Ron's arms.
"Harry Potter is dead. From this day of forth, you put your faith in me. Harry Potter is dead!" He chanted again.
The deatheaters cheered him on. I could see my father in the crowd, cackling like the mad man he is. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. He was there. He could have chose me over Voldemort, his own blood, and he chose to let Harry die.
"Draco!" Mr. Malfoy spit. "Draco, come here at once."
Draco didn't move, didn't even flinch.
He glanced over at me, I shook my head, no. Just like I did that night at Malfoy Manor.
"Draco." Narcissa cooed.
He took a deep breath and slowly made his way over to their side. I couldn't beleive him. All these years I've spent defending him and this is the thanks I get?
I saw him glance over at Harry, still in Hagrid's arms.
"And now it is time to declare yourself. Come forward and join us."
I cluthced my butterfly necklace and looked around anxiously. No one stepped out of the crowd.
"or die."
Neville limped forward, sorting hat in hand.
"Ah, well, I must say I'd hoped for better." The deatheater's laughed at Voldermort's remark like it was the funniest joke ever told. Like he was a Weasley twin. "And who might you be, young man?"
"Neville Longbottom."
The deatheater's laughed again.
"Well, Neville. I'm sure we can find a place for you in our ranks-"
"I'd like to say something." Neville interupted.
"Well, Neville, I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear what you have to say."
"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone."
"Stand down, Neville." Seamus warned.
"People die everyday. Friends, family. Yeah. We lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us." Neville pointed to his chest. "In here. So's Fred, and Remus. Tonks. All of them. They didn't die in vain. But you will. Because you're wrong. Harry's heart did beat for us! For all of us this is not over!"
And then the unexpected happened.
It all happened so fast, if you blinked you would have missed it.
Draco threw his wand to Harry who fell out of Hagrid's arms. Neville pulled the sword out of the hat and just like that, the battle started up again.
"Confringo!" Harry shot at Voldemort, knocking a few deatheaters back as well.
Dumbledore's army and the deatheaters all charged at each other. I lost Harry in the crowd.
I ran up towards the school to see if I could spot him.
Someone wrapped their hand around my mouth and pulled me behind a wall.
"Harry Potter! I absoloutely bloody hate you for scaring me like that! Don't ever die again!" I exclaimed as I slapped his chest.
"No promises." He said with the biggest grin on his face. "Now can I get a kiss since I just came back from the dead for you?"
I grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. I kissed him like I never had before, each second saying everything I needed it to.
His eyes were wide when we pulled away as he looked down at me. "Well, I'm going to keep dying if that's what it takes to get a kiss like that."
"You're ridiculous." I laughed.
"And you love me for it."
"That I do." I grinned before pulling him in for another kiss, quoting what he had said to me not so long ago.
"Ok, I have to go kill Voldemort. Stay close to Ron and Hermione, I'll see you after?"
"See you after."
"I love you, y/n."
"I love you too, Harry."
And with that he ran off to save the wizarding world.
I could have picked any guy in the entire world, but no. I picked the one who's life is contsantly at risk.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
~
harry pov
"Where are you going?" I could hear Bellatrix scream to the disapparating death eaters. "Come back, now! Come back and fight!"
With a new found confidence, I made sure Voldemort spotted me before running back into the castle. I have a better chance at killing him once and for all if there's no deatheaters trying to help him out.
I made sure to stay alert as I made my way down a long hallway towards the bridge. I ducked behind a wall and pulled out the basilisk fang.
"Stupefy!" I yelled as I heard Voldemort coming.
He blocked it and quickly shot another spell at me. I was able to dodge it before he started sending spell, after spell my way. I had to block those ones with counter curses.
I could see Nagini slithering up the stairs behind him.
He apparated so he was behind me and tried to shoot a killing curse at me. I blocked it just in time, looking back to see Nagini was getting closer.
I shot a spell at the roof and it came crumbling down. I quickly got up and was about to stab Nagini with the fang before I saw Voldemort has apparated onto another set of stairs.
I jumped down onto the stairs below me as he launched a black smoke at me. Whatever it was, it destroyed the basilisk fang.
Nagini was thrown off my trail by someone throwing rocks at her.
Now all I have to deal with is Voldemort.
Voldemort chased me all the way to the astronomy tower. He shot a spell at the bridge I was walking on, sending me falling down. I got up the miniute I fell, ready to attack again.
A rope wrapped around my arms, then my neck, then my chest. Voldemort lifted me into the air so he could get a clear shot at me.
I tilted my wand to shoot a spell at his foot. He let out a groan of frustration as the ropes untied me and he was backed into a corner.
"You were right-" I started before he slapped me right across the face. "When you told Professor Snape the wand was failing you. It will always fail you."
"I killed Snape!"
We were backed to the edge of the castle.
"But what if the wand never belonged to Snape? What if it's allegiance was always to someone else? Come on, Tom. Let's finish this the way we started it. Together."
I grabbed his neck and threw myself off the tower, him falling down with me.
I made sure to hold on to him as tight as I could, once he apparates back to the courtyard, I need to go with him. Otherwise this all will have been for nothing.
Just as I had predicted, he apparated us back. Both of us ending up on different sides of the courtyard.
Our wands in the middle.
I reached for mine before he could get to his and immediately got up. "Expelliarmus!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
The spells hit each other at the exact same time. Just like in the graveyard four years ago.
I held on as hard as I could, thinking of everything I had to fight for.
He was winning. The curse was getting closer and closer to me, once again.
And then I felt a pain erupt within me.
The last horcrux being destroyed.
We both fell to the ground.
Only I recovered faster.
We both raised our wands to each other and were locked in a duel again. Except this time, I was winning.
The elder wand flew out of his hand and into the air.
Right into my hand.
He crumpled to the ground. His skin withering away as he cried out.
It's finally over.
Voldemort is finally dead.
~
I walked into the great hall to see it was much brighter than when I was last in there.
Friends and families being reunited.
Less dead.
A newfound sense of safety.
I smiled as I looked around the room.
Hogwarts was still in ruins. I bet after a few months of hard work and lot's of magic, it'll be good as new.
I looked at the piles of rubble as I passed them.
A glimmer coming from one of them caught my eye. I kneeled down to see what it was. I moved some rocks out of the way, and felt my world crashing in on itself.
A silver butterfly necklace in the hand of a girl.
y/n.
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(2065 Words - Published February 2, 2021)